• SACM Waqar Mehdi promises swift action against any wrongdoing
• MQM-P asks CJP to take suo motu notice; blames PPP for violating quota reserved for Karachi students
KARACHI: While the opposition Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) sought superior judiciary’s intervention regarding reports that more than 100 “non-local” students had used Karachi domiciles to get admissions into the city’s medical colleges, the Sindh government, responsible for issuing domicile and permanent residence certificates, denied any wrongdoing and vowed to conduct a thorough investigation.
According to reports, more than 100 students, said to have passed their matric and intermediate exams either from Punjab, Islamabad or other districts of Sindh, got admission into Karachi’s medical colleges on the basis of the local domicile that they reportedly obtained illegally. That deprived those students who are permanent residents of the city’s seven districts.
The issue came to light when senior officials of the Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences, which is responsible for finalising the merit list of Sindh medical colleges, randomly searched the computerised national identity card (CNIC) numbers of some students and found that they already possessed the domicile of Punjab but got admission into medical colleges in Sindh on the basis of Karachi domicile.
As the opposition held the Sindh government responsible and demanded the apex court to take suo motu notice, a senior Pakistan Peoples Party leader, who also represents the Sindh government as the head of the powerful Chief Minister’s Inspection Committee (CMIT), shrugged off the allegations and announced an inquiry.
“We will definitely hold an inquiry and seek details from all relevant offices and institutions,” Special Assistant to Chief Minister (SACM) Senator Waqar Mehdi told Dawn. “It’s a very serious allegation and one must fix it if there’s any wrongdoing involved.”
He said that the CM team would look into the alleged reports. The team, he said, would gather every piece of evidence, physically visit the places under question and look into every possible angle that helps connecting the dots.
“Usually we try to complete the job within couple of weeks but sometimes the response from the institutions concerned and relevant details take time to emerge. Whatever it takes, we would try our best to reach the logical end,” added Senator Mehdi.
Muttahida condemns ‘injustice to Karachi students’
The situation drew strong reaction from the opposition MQM-P which appealed to the chief justice of Pakistan to take a suo motu action on the allegations “to provide justice to the students of Karachi.”
“Once again, open injustice is being done to the students of Karachi,” the party said in a statement. “The plan to give the reserved quota for Karachi students in medical colleges to interior Sindh has been successfully executed. Fake domiciles are being created to legalise illegal acts. In universities across the country, students from the local district and city are given admission on a preferential basis.”
It said that Karachi has become the only city where non-local students are being admitted on a preferential basis but “corrupt and feudal mindset of the PPP government” is defying all set rules and regulations.
“The MQM-Pakistan demands that the chief justice of Pakistan take suo motu action to provide justice to the students of Karachi,” it added.
The reports said that a significant number of fake domicile certificates in Karachi were issued from the city’s East district, with many students having completed their matriculation and intermediate from other cities. It said that some students initially held Punjab domicile certificates, only to later exchange them for Sindh certificates.
It says that online domicile verification system in Punjab has made it easier to identify these fraudulent documents, whereas Sindh’s manual system has created challenges in verifying the legitimacy of dual certificates.
As a result, students from other provinces and federal areas have gained admission to medical colleges in Karachi, while local students are being denied entry due to the provincial government’s stringent domicile policy, said the report.
